German Olympic Trials

(Interesting finishing technique from Marco di Carli, video courtesy of DMS - Deutsche Mannschaftsmeisterschaften im Schwimmen)


May 10 -14. This week sees the best Germany has to offer in the swimming pool step up to try and claim a spot at London 2012. Most attention will fall on Paul Biedermann, Britta Steffen and Christian vom Lehn, but don't snooze on the following swimmers:


Marco di Carli - Di Carli led the world rankings in the 100m Free heading into Shanghai last year with his 48.24 from German Nationals. Look for another fast swim on home soil in the 100m Free and improvement on the global stage. He's a potential Olympic finalist, with an outside medal chance if he can impove on his 2011 form.

Ben Starke - Like di Carli, last year Starke underperformed at Worlds after a strong showing at German Nationals. If he repeats his time of 51.65 from last year, he would move him to number 1 in this year's world rankings. Watch out also for Philip Heintz, European Junior Bronze medalist in 2009, who has taken a big step forward this year with his 52.38 in March, as well as 50m specialist Steffen Deibler.

Helge Meeuw - World silver medalist back in 2009, Meeuw marked his return to the international stage with a 7th placed finish in the 100m Back in Shanghai. He swam 53.28 in the final and 53.22 in the heats of the 4 x 100 Medley relay. The medal spots look wide open in the 100m Back this year and Meeuw has the talent to be in that mix.

Men's 4 x 100 Medley Team - Bronze medalists in Shanghai, but often overlooked in discussions for the medley relay. The German team lost out to the eventual winners USA by just 0.54 seconds, while seeing Helge Meeuw swim 0.3 seconds slower than his relay heat swim and Ben Starke split 51.83, down on his 51.65 flat start from German Nationals. The US team should be stronger with the addition of Brendan Hansen and Matt Grevers this year, but Germany are contenders and have potential Olympic finalists in all 4 disciplines.

Daniela Schreiber - Schreiber finished last year down in 33rd in the 100m Free world rankings with 54.74, but that did not tell the whole story. Schreiber played a huge part in the German team's 4 x 100 Free bronze medal with her impressive 53.12 anchor leg. That relay split was the 3rd fastest in the entire race behind Femke Heemskerk, Missy Franklin and tied with Yi Tang. Her split was faster than the likes of Ranomi Kromowidjojo, Dana Vollmer, Jeanette Ottesen and Alicia Coutts. In March she swam 54.45 and she should give Britta Steffen a solid challenge.

Women's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay - Steffen and Schreiber make a punchy 1-2 combo, and the German team also have decent strength in depth from the likes of Silke Lippok, Lisa Vitting and Dorothea Brandt. If Lippok, who at 18 years old is at a good age for a further breakthrough, can take a step forward then the German quartet will have a good chance of repeating their bronze medal from Shanghai.

Start List
Results
Live Timing

Heats start at 9:30 CEST (8:30 BST). Finals start at 19:00 CEST (18:00 BST).

Top 51 Swimmers of 2011 - 41 to 32

As another year of great swimming comes to a close, here is a rundown of the Top 50 Swimmers of 2011. There is no set criteria, but clearly the World Championships in Shanghai carried a big weight in the decision making process. That being said, outstanding achievements away from Shanghai were still acknowledged.

Here is the rundown from 40 to 31.

41. Brendan Hansen – 2011 Highlight – Beating world champion Daniel Gyurta at the Duel in the Pool.

Hansen makes the list not so much for his performances, which still put him in the world top 10, but for the fact that of all the comebacks during the last two years, his has been by far the most successful. To be under 2:10 in the 200m Breast at this stage of Hansen’s return is scary. Hansen v Kitajima v Gyurta should be a classic, Tomita, von Lehm and Shanteau will all try to crash the party.

40. Camille Muffat – 2011 Highlight – Missing out on two silver medals in Shanghai by a combined 0.10 seconds.

This selection may raise a few eyebrows, especially considering that Kylie Palmer who finished ahead of Muffat in the 200 Free in Shanghai missed out on the Top 50. Muffat’s inclusion was based on her impressive last 12 months. The Nice trained swimmer is a model of consistency in middle distance Freestyle. In the last year she has registered 7 of the top 25 performances in the 200m Free and 6 in the 400 Free (including 3 of the top 7). Her 4:03.23 400 Free effort at French nationals puts her in elite company with Federica Pellegrini and Rebecca Adlington.

39. Paul Biedermann – 2011 Highlight – Silencing some of his critics by taking two bronze medals in Shanghai in two of the deepest events on the men’s side.

Biedermann, like Muffat, came back from Shanghai with two bronze medals, but when you consider the swimmers he beat on his way to those medals, his place in the Top 50 should become clearer: Park Tae-Hwan, Yannick Agnel, Nikita Lobintsev, Ous Mellouli, Peter Vanderkaay, Ryan Cochrane. It is also worth remembering that Michael Phelps beat Biedermann by just 0.09 in the 200m Free. His time of 1:44.88 moved him ahead of Pieter van den Hoogenband to 4th 5th on the all-time textile ranking list.

Swimming at the 2012 Olympic Games - Day 1 Roundtable

With the recent announcement of an unchanged Olympic Schedule for London 2012, what better time to go through some of the talking points with two esteemed swim bloggers, Braden Keith of The Swimmers Circle (BK) and David Rieder (theswimgeek.com) (DR). We start with the Men's events on Day One.

2012 Olympics Day One Roundtable

Men's 400m IM - With the same schedule as 2008 released, will Michael Phelps now reconsider his decision to drop the 400m IM from his list of events?

TW - I think the chances of Phelps swimming the 400m IM have increased slightly, although I remain sceptical that he will take the event on. He doesn't need to go for 8 events again and whilst Bob Bowman might have been able to persuade him to keep swimming it in 2008, I don't think he can this time around. If he's training for the 100m Free I just can't see him going for the 400 IM. The 400 Free on the other hand...

TW Prediction - Lochte, Clary, Cseh (If Mellouli didn't have the 400m Free, i'd pick him for Bronze). Wildcard - Chaoseng Huang, silver medalist at the Asian Games, just 16 years old and 1.90m tall. I'm taking him over the 1.69m tall, 20 year old gold medalist Yuya Horihata.

BK - I think you nailed it on the head, Tom. At this point, Phelps no longer has to prove his versatility by competing in the whole kitchen sink at the Olympics. It seems as though his goal now is to pick some very specific "pet" events, and prove to the world that he can beat any swimmer in the world in any specific event, rather than before when he had to prove that he could beat EVERY swimmer in EVERY event. With that sort of paradigm shift, the 400 IM is the natural event to drop.

BK Prediction - Lochte, Clary, Verraszto (the only swimmer near the top of the pile who actually DROPPED time after taking off the wetsuit). Wildcard: Chad le Clos-Like Tom's pick, this is another baby on the international scene. He's already huge, and has a frame that looks like it can handle a lot more muscle still.

DR - I think he made the decision to do it at Pan Pacs mostly because he saw an opening.. Now, there is no such motivation. Lochte and Clary have been 1-2 in the world the past two years. Anyone's pick for 1-2 in Shanghai and London. If this race wasn't the first of the meet, I'd give Clary a slight chance to beat Lochte in 16 months. But Lochte will be fresh and ready to go. I think both will beat Phelps' WR at either Trials, London, or both, and they should re-establish the US 1-2 tradition in the event. Dolan and Namesnik went 1-2 in 1996, Dolan and Vendt in 2000, and Phelps and Vendt in 2004. Cseh catching Lochte in 2008 shook things up obviously.

Now, it gets tricky. Someone else could (unlikely though) sneak into the top two. We saw the coming-out party of Conor Dwyer at SECs, 3:37 400 IM, which is a couple tenths of Lochte's best time. In December - when Dwyer had swam the race once ever - a coach told me he thinks Dwyer will make the team in the 400 IM. And on top of that, Robert Margalis, the perennial bridesmaid, won short course Nationals in a 3:40, pretty solid. Could be more up in the air than last time, where second-place Lochte went nearly 8 seconds faster than third-place Margalis.

DR Prediction - Tom is right that Mellouli would be a huge threat if it did not conflict with the 400 IM. As for Cseh, he struggled at this point in the last Olympic cycle too - lost European Short Course Champs, 5th at Worlds. He might be too good not to medal. Could be a tight race to qualify for Hungary too, with the likes of Verraszto and Gergo Kis. As for darkhorses, I too was thinking of Chad Le Clos, and also Israel's Gal Nevo and Brazil's Thiago Pereira have to be considered threats. To throw a name out: if Italy's Alessio Boggiatto is still swimming, he has finished fourth in the last three Olympics - no joke, it must be fate - and he was World Champ in 2001. Blast from the past!


Men's 400m Free - What role will World record-holder Paul Biedermann have in the race? Can Park Tae Hwan defend? How will the Chinese fit in? Will any Americans be ready to race the 400 and go for medals in London? Will anyone be under 3:40?

DR - To respond to Tom's post, I doubt Phelps steps up here. With such a rushed preparation, he needs to focus on 100s and 200s. Shame he never got the chance to show the world what he can do, and I think he would have gone sub-3:40 in Beijing.

I watched him race Cochrane and Rob Hurley in the 400 in Santa Clara in June 2009 (his second meet post-Beijing). Two bodylength lead at the 200, out in 1:51.0. Bodylength at the 350. Wins by a fingernail, 3:48.0. Hasn't swum it since. 

Biedermann is going to have to focus on the 200 for a chance at an Olympic medal. Just can't see him making a mark in the 400 long course anymore with the Asian guys and even Mellouli at full force.

DR Prediction 1) Park in a World Record; 2) Sun Yang, possibly also under 3:40, and 3) Agnel - he scares me.

Other established contenders: Zhang Lin, Peter Vanderkaay/Charlie Houchin/other Americans, Ryan Cochrane, Nikita Lobintsev. Darkhorses: Hurley/Ryan Napoleon - any Australians, Sebastian Rouault, Takeshi Matsuda (yes, he swims 400 free)

BK - If there's an American that can step up in the 400 free, I think that it's Peter Vanderkaay. He was good, though not awesome, in 2010, but he's now training in Gainesville. I can only imagine what working with Lochte day-in and day-out is going to do for his times.

Cochrane is another interesting name. He's going to be more dangerous in the longer distance, but he showed some potential in this race at Pan-Pacs.

Biedermann is still in this race. He proved in the World Cup and Dubai that he is not just a "suit swimmer" as he has been so harshly criticized in recent years. Don't think Agnel is ready yet in 2012, but I'm ready to just about hand him the Rio gold medal already.

BK Prediction: 1) Park; 2) Paul Biedermann; 3) Yang Sun With an upset special of Ryan Cochrane.

DR - A 400 long course is a different animal than short course. I have utmost (well almost) confidence in Biedermann's abilities to be in the hunt in the 200. I feel like that distance background (miles, 800s, etc.) are essential to be a factor against some of these other guys. I've also heard his focus is now on the 200...

TW - I see Biedermann making the final, but missing the medals as it stands right now. I think his heart lies in the 200 and the 'glamour' battles he faces in that event. One thing I will say for Biedermann, he is a great racer, if the final is a cagey affair and he has a chance in the last 100m I wouldn't bet against him.

Interesting fact - Apart from the boycotted 1980 games, there has never been an Olympic Top 3 in the 400m Free that hasn't included either an American or an Australian. I would say at this stage, that its looking more than likely we will see history being made in London. Right now I see it as a battle between Park Tae-Hwan, Sun Yang and Oussama Mellouli and I believe one, if not all three, will be sub-3:40 by 2012. Agnel is a scary prospect, but like Biedermann, I feel his speed makes him more suitable for the 200. What a great advert for the global reach of swimming to have a podium consisting only of athletes from Asia and Africa.

Its not looking like such a strong event for USA (or Australia). Peter Vanderkaay is a tremendous swimmer but he has a lot of ground to make up on the leading guys in the event. One possible source of hope for USA is my wildcard pick Conor Dwyer (assuming Lochte and Clary make the US team on the 400m IM). If he can translate his Short Course Yards swimming into Long Course Meters he could be a classic American Olympic contender who seemingly (to the non-American world) comes from nowhere.

TW Prediction - 1. Sun Yang (scary how good he could be next year), 2. Park Tae-Hwan, 3. Oussama Mellouli. Wildcard - Conor Dwyer.

BK - That's a great factoid Tom. I wonder if that has anything to do with the American paradigm shift where everyone wants to be an IM'er. The swimmers who previously would've had the mentality to do that middle-distance freestyle now instead all want to be IM'ers like Michael Phelps.

Men's 100m Breaststroke - In 2010, there's little doubt that Kitajima was the best breaststroker in the world. But by London 2012, he will be almost 30, and his countrymate Ryo Tateishi will just be hitting his prime. Is there any chance that Tateishi knocks him off? And what about the American situation. How much will Shanteau benefit from battling with Kitajima every day at Trojan, and what sort of potential does Alexandrov have in the long course pool? Does this leave Gangloff as the odd man out? And can Brenton Rickard get back on his form from 2009 after what was an admittedly off-the-wall season for the Aussies?

BK - I want to believe that Kitajima will have a dropoff, but he certainly didn't show it last year. Trojan seems to be the KINGS of breaststroke right now, and so I think Shanteau will have a lot of improvement between now and London. The second spot will be down to Alexandrov and Gangloff...I've gotta take a peaking Alexandrov over a declining Gangloff for the other spot in this race.

I think that Rickard needs to take his focus off of Shanghai, and use the first part of this year to really settle himself down. Between the mess in India, and the 47 or so Championship meets the Australians had, he was never able to hit his training cycles at the right intervals. If he can really take a long-term view of this training year, I think he'll be fine for London.

BK Prediction - 1) Kosuke Kitajima, 2) Ryo Tateishi (the heir apparent), and 3) Eric Shanteau. Darkhorse: Igor Borysik from the Ukraine...that national program is really starting to pull things together.

TW - I made a vow a few years ago to never doubt Kitajima in any race of importance, and you know what, it's worked out pretty well for me so far. He is the greatest breaststroker of all time and I expect him to sweep to victory in the 100m.

I love the Tateishi pick for silver. I'm not sure if the wider world realizes yet, but Japan has more depth in Men's Breaststroke than any other nation. Domestic competition only improves a nation's chances, so I can definitely see a Japan 1-2 in both the 100 and 200 Breast. Whether it is Tateishi or Naoya Tomita/Yuta Suenaga/Takuro Fujii is another story. The one threat I see to the Japanese dominance comes from Alexander Dale Oen. He didn't race with the techsuits in '09 and returned to form with a bang last year.

TW Predictions - 1. Kitajima. 2. Tateishi. 3. Dale Oen. Wildcard - Brendan Hansen. Whilst it hasn't been confirmed, by all accounts Hansen is back in training. Whilst Ed Moses has officially announced his return, in a long course pool Hansen is the one man that can get close to Kitajima's level.

BK - Dale Oen did have a good season last year, and maybe he will be bolstered by the fact that he was never spoiled by the tech suits. He's still capable of going lifetime bests, unlike much of his competition, and maybe this will keep him motivated. Does anyone know what Oen's current training situation is like?

Japan really has developed some incredible depth. Tateishi is young, and already had one of the best times in the world last year. Remembering that this meet is a year out, it seems hard that anyone at the top of the rankings (this is an aging group of breaststrokers, worldwide) will be able to catch him.

So Tom, what DO you see happening with the USA breaststrokers, besides obviously Hansen getting into the top two? Which of the other three do you see joining him, or do you think it will be an all-comeback squad of Moses and Hansen?

TW - USA Men's Breaststroke is seen as a weakness, but at the end of the day you still had the 8th (Gangloff), 9th (Alexandrov) and 11th (Shanteau) fastest guys in the world last year. You also have uber-talents Ed Moses and Brendan Hansen returning so its not all doom and gloom. It certainly should be strong enough to see you through in the 4 x 100 Medley relay.

If I had to pick the two US guys in the 100m at this point I would say Hansen and Alexandrov. Kind of a mix between an old head and a new talent. Hansen was incredible at his best and Alexandrov has a bright future ahead of him. I can see the Ed Moses comeback ending in a national final, but not much more than that. Shanteau I'd pick for the 200 and Gangloff is the odd man out. 

DR - Unless you guys want to read novellas every night, let me respond! First of all: you guys need to look at the history of Tateishi. Always performs well in the spring meets, including Nationals, but never when it matters. At Pan Pacs, 1:00.09 in prelims; fourth in finals, with a time that would have won silver. Ninth in Rome, nowhere near his season best. You get the picture. Also a really small guy, and suits/taper do very little for him. Japan does have some stellar depth, but this is going to be an extremely tight race, and I can't imagine one country picking up two medals. And Suenaga announced his retirement yesterday, FYI. Something about not enjoying being obliterated by Kitajima.

Borysik is similar - inconsistent, and he's never had a big performance when it matters. Wildcard/darkhorse a good spot for him, but many others like him.

My prediction: 1) Dale Oen, 2) Kitajima, 3) van der Burgh

I am surprised neither of you has mentioned van der Burgh (1:00.10 at Commonwealth Games - big meet). He has far more explosive power than anyone in the field (perfect contrast with Tatieshi actually). As for Dale Oen, he missed the short course season with some sort of injury, forget what, but he's back at it. I honestly believe that this pick is not just that I don't want Kitajima to be the first to three-peat (Phelps' flys are a few days later).

Rickard (and Spenger) will be in the mix, as will both Americans. If Hansen has enough time, he has the capabilities to get to the level of Kitajima. Moses is unfulfilled potential. Of the three guys on the scene right now, only Alexandrov may be able to keep up with Hansen and Moses if they were to have a full preparation. He is still on the rise too. That said, never count out Shanteau or Gangloff. In late May, I told Chris DeSantis I didn't think Gangloff would be top-two this year. He proceeded to bust out a 1:00.7 at Paris Open and win bronze (ahead of Tatieshi) at Pan Pacs and make me look stupid. Will be tight - others like Marcus Titus also in the mix. I do think it will take under 1:00 to make the U.S. team.

No one talks about Hugues Duboscq either - is he a darkhorse, or do we just think he should be a dinosaur? Real darkhorses include Fabio Scozolli, Felipe Silva, and Daniel Gyurta - two 50 guys and a 200 guy. This is a very wide open event, and I could see times going out the window in the final. If that happens, it comes down to racing and pure guts - which is how someone like Brendan Hansen could win.

BK - But can we really pigeon-hole Tateishi into what he is when he's still only 21? All young swimmers have those consistency issues, but as he matures, I think he'll clear up some of those issues and perform better. I thought about van der Burgh. I thought, and thought, and thought. When I was going through swimmers in my head to pick for the top 3, his name kept popping up in my head, but I couldn't bring myself to pick him long course.

Duboscq is going to be almost 31 by then...and unlike Kitajima, he seems to be going the wrong direction.

DR - Who won bronze in Rome in the 100 breast as the youngest in the field? Right... Yeah I tend to forget about Duboscq - then he does something good.

Poll Result - Who Will Win The Men's 200m Free at the World Championships?

The votes are in and the swimming world has spoken. Michael Phelps will win the 200m Free at Worlds this year. With the collective swimming knowledge of this blog's readership, you can mark that down as fact.

In the most popular vote hosted on this blog so far, close to 500 people gave their opinion. Here are the results of the most intriguing event in world swimming.

Top Tier

Michael Phelps - 207 votes (42.6%) - Reports are that Phelps is training well again after an off-year in 2010. If he gets back to his very best, then I agree with the voters on this one.
Ryan Lochte - 161 votes (33.1%) - World short-course champion and ranked second in the world long-course in 2010. The event schedule is friendly in Shanghai with the 200m Free the first event on Day Three.

Chasing Pack

Paul Biedermann - 33 votes (6.8%) - Third in the vote but a long way behind the American duo. Suit or no suit, the last time the world got together over 200m Free long-course, Biedermann was victorious.
Park Tae-Hwan - 29 votes (6.0%) - Bit of a surprise that the fastest man over 200m in 2010 only received 6% of the vote. I see Park winning in Shanghai as a very real possibility.
Yannick Agnel - 25 votes (5.1%) - The French youngster has hit the ground running in 2011 already posting a blazing 1:46.55 untapered. The scary thing about Agnel, he is only going to get faster.

Need to find something extra to challenge

Sebastiaan Verschuren - 12 votes (2.5%) - In the shadow of his European rivals, 22-year-old Verschuren continues to improve. Will need to drop a substantial amount of time to win in Shanghai though.
Oussama Mellouli - 6 votes (1.2%) - He's a 1500m swimmer right? Not if the Missouri Grand Prix is anything to go by, Mellouli won every Freestyle event 100 right through to 1500. His 200m Free time was a seriously impressive 1:47.03.
Danila Izotov - 6 votes (1.2%) - Had we taken this poll last year Izotov would have pulled in many more votes, however after a lackluster long-course season last year his stock has fallen. His performance in Dubai, a silver medal in the 200m Free behind Lochte, shows signs that he is returning to his exceptional best.
Sun Yang - 5 votes (1.0%) - His 1500 was voted the top performance of 2010, but he hasn't convinced enough people that he can acheive the same standard over 200m. Here's some food for thought - he swam 1:46.25 long-course last year, has just turned 19-years-old, is improving rapidly and will be swimming at home. He is my wild-card to take gold at Worlds.
Nikita Lobintsev - 2 votes (0.4%) - Shown no love from the voters, the European long-course silver medalist had the fastest last 50m of that race. No mean feat in a field that contained three of the men above him on this list.

Ian Thorpe Comeback - Winners and Losers

Winners

The Sport Of Swimming - When was the last time swimming garnered this much attention? It certainly didn't happen in 2010. 2009? Possibly with the new suits and multitude of world records, however I don't recall Paul Biedermann generating this much attention when he was winning in Rome. The last time swimming had this much attention was Beijing and Michael Phelps winning his 8 gold medals.

Swimming Australia - This is the best thing that could have happened to Swimming Australia. Their prodigal son has returned and he will inject life into an Australian team that has suffered over the last few years. Geoff Huegill got the 'positivity' ball rolling, Libby Trickett furthered the momentum and Thorpedo will hit it out of the park. Swimming is front page news again in Australia.

Michael Phelps - The news of Thorpe's return should come at the perfect time for Phelps. We continue to hear about the need for Phelps to increase his training and to be more motivated. If the threat of getting beaten by your childhood idol who has spent the last 4 years out of the water doesn't motivate Phelps, I don't know what will. Thorpe's return will give Phelps even more exposure than he receives currently as the media hype up the Phelps vs Thorpe matchup.

Paul Biedermann - For those blinkered enough to believe that Biedermann, personally, has damaged the sport with his suit-aided success, he will have a great chance at taking Thorpe down in the 200m Free on a level playing field, and in doing so presumably improving his reputation within the sport. Additionally, Thorpe won't be a threat to his WR... Park Tae Hwan Park and Sun Yang on the other hand will be.

Men's 4 x 100m Free - Whilst the addition of Thorpe won't turn the Australian's into favourites for the relay, it has certainly boosted their hopes. Australia has a deep group of sprint freestylers, I'm betting they push a bit harder in training today knowing that Thorpedo could be taking their spot. The race itself will be one of the marquee events in London. USA, France, Russia, Australia, South Africa and Brazil will all battle it out in a real humdinger of a relay.

Losers

Ryan Lochte - After a stellar 2010, Lochte has emerged as the world's best swimmer. His rivalry with Phelps and his supreme talent were all set to be the main swimming stories heading into the Olympics. However, if today's press is anything to go by, Lochte has become an afterthought. In the BBC's article where Steve Parry, Karen Pickering and Mark Foster discuss Thorpe's comeback, Phelps was mentioned 14 times, Lochte 0 times. As it stand now, swimming at the next Olympics will all be about Thorpe vs Phelps, despite the fact you could argue neither of them are favourites in the 100m or 200m Free.

Milorad Cavic - Milorad who? The public's memory can be painfully short. After an injury plagued 2010 he needed to re-establish his fierce rivalry with Phelps this year. Ofcourse he can still do that, but in a similar way to Lochte, it risks being turned into a sub-plot in London rather than the headline event.

One Australian Sprinter - Assuming Thorpe makes the team, it stands to reason that the Olympic dreams of one would-be Australian relay member will be over (atleast for another 4 years). That list could include the likes of Cameron Prosser, Matt Targett, Tommaso D'Orsagna and Matt Abood.


Women's Swimming - The likes of Katie Hoff, Steph Rice and Rebecca Adlington garnered plenty of attention prior, during and after Beijing 2008 giving women's swimming a real shot in the arm. Ahead of London they are going to be competing with swimming's two biggest ever stars for column inches.

New Vote - Who Will Win The Men's 200m Freestyle At The World Championships This Year

There are many great battles in the world of swimming currently, but none come close to the epic nature of the Men's 200m Freestyle. This is swimming's Hollywood event. Lochte v Phelps. Phelps v Biedermann. Agnel v Biedermann. USA v Russia. East v West. Youth v Experience. National Hero v National Hero. This event has it all.

Time to let the people speak...  

Who will win the Men's 200m Freestyle at the World Championships this year?

Here's a run down of the contenders (clink on the link to see the race itself):-

Ryan Lochte, Age: 26 - Last year 1:45.30

Park Tae-Hwan, Age: 21 - Last year 1:44.80

Michael Phelps, Age: 25 - Last year 1:45.61

Paul Biedermann, Age: 24 - Last year 1:45.47

Yannick Agnel, Age: 18 - Last year 1:45.83

Sun Yang, Age: 19 - Last year 1:46.25

Danila Izotov, Age: 19 - Last year 1:47.14

Sebastiaan Verschuren, Age: 22 - Last year 1:46.91

Nikita Lobintsev, Age: 22 - Last year 1:45.93

Oussama Mellouli, Age: 26 - Last year 1:49.04 (1:42.02 SC)

(If clicking a button isn't enough for you, make the case for your guy in the comments section.)


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Biedermann..... blogs!

So anyone that follows this blog knows that I can rarely go 3 blogs in a row without a Paul Biedermann mention. Everytime he swims he gets a mention. Everytime someone else swims he gets a mention. He's essentially taken up more space here than anyone else.

Now Europeans are done and dusted I thought I would be treading water for a few weeks with Biedermann news. I could have mentioned that he will be swimming the Stockholm leg of the World Cup Series as well as the Berlin leg alongside Britta Steffen, but it didn't seem 'blog worthy' enough.

True to his race tactics he was just cruising along, lulling me into a false sense of security, before dropping the hammer on Speed Endurance.... that's right, Biedermann blogs.

I may as well retire from blogging because there is no way I can match Biedermann. He's already come out firing with posts including literary quotes, fake facebook accounts and RETIRING FROM WORLD OF WARCRAFT. PB is taking swim blogging into a new era. The rest of the world needs to catch up.

Little known fact -  I once raced Biedermann in a 400m Free in 2004 (page 15 of the results - I hung with him for 200m before being blown away in the last half of the race). He beat me then .. and he'll beat me now.

Poll Results - In the same suit, who would have won the 200m Free at last year's Worlds?

Poll Results: If Phelps and Biedermann would have worn the same suit in Rome 2009 in the 200m Free, who would have won? - (Total votes - 155)

Phelps - 86 votes - 55.5%

Biedermann - 60 votes - 38.7%

Isotov - 9 votes - 5.8%

So the swimming world has spoken. Had both men worn the same suits at last year's World Championships, the majority of people believe Michael Phelps would have beaten Paul Biedermann in the 200m Free final.

I personally voted for Biedermann... here's my reasoning:-

1. As much as his suit helped him, its not like Phelps was wearing a pair of boardies when he swam. He was wearing a full body LZR suit. Is the difference between Biedermann's suit and Phelps' worth a full 1.22 seconds?

(Side note 1 - One article described the race as 'man against thermoplastic, basically a case of Phelps trying to swim faster than a guy wearing the hull of a spacecraft' and went on to say 'his outdated Speedo LZR suit, which was a relic, a junker despite the fact that just a year ago its “ultrasonically welded” seams were the sport’s latest rage.')

(Side note 2 - This 'outdated suit' still broke smashed four world records in Rome - Phelps - 100m and 200m Fly, Gemma Spofforth - 100m Back and Daniela Samulski - 50m Back).

2. Phelps was 0.28 seconds slower than his best time set in Beijing, a great swim but one that opened the door for Biedermann on top of his game.

3. Biedermann has the strength on the back end of a race to challenge Phelps like few others before have been able to. Phelps can no longer rely on a stunning final 50m to overhaul Biedermann like he can against some of his other competitors. Phelps may well have needed a different race plan if he was going to beat Biedermann in Rome.

4. A strong argument against Biedermann is the time he dropped from 2008 to 2009. Rewatch the 2008 Olympic final and look out for the following points:-

a) his awful start

b) the suit he was wearing (just legs, compared to Phelps' LZR)

c) his technique, it wasn't bad in Beijing but had clearly improved by Rome

d) his physique. Biedermann got a lot stronger between 2008 and 2009


Ofcourse we'll never know what would have really happened that day in Rome.


- One problem I do have is the backlash that Biedermann has faced since Rome. Even this year people continue to criticise him for swimming 'slowly' (an example from a commentator on SwimmingWorld, on the day he swam a 1:45.47 relay lead off leg - "people who did well in suits and are now fading away (Herr B., for instance)")... Fading away? Biedermann is ranked 2nd in the world this year ahead of Phelps and 2nd only to a superhuman Ryan Lochte.

Whatever side of the fence you sit (even the 9 of you that voted for Isotov) - 2011 - World Championships, 200m Free final, mark it in the diary.

Thoughts from the European Swimming Championships - Day Six

-  21.36

Fred Bousquet just swam one of the most impressive 50m Freestyles of all-time. In a pair of jammers that make him feel naked, he absolutely crushed the 50m Freestyle field in the semi-final. The power Bousquet has is phenomenal.



Bousquet and coach Brett Hawke must be feeling pretty good right now. If you didn't catch it back in May 2009 there was quite a spat between Hawke and Swimnews' Craig Lord. This article on Swimnews led to this reaction from Brett Hawke and later this retort on Swimnews.

Its clear (to me at least) that Bousquet is, and was in 2009, in the shape of his life. He has taken the 50m Free into a new era. Alex Popov's 21.64 was the textile best time until this year, to be 0.28 seconds under that mark is phenomenal.

What will we see from Cesar Cielo, Nathan Adrian, Ashley Callus and Eamon Sullivan at Pan Pacs this week? Will anyone, most obvious contender being Cielo, be able to better Bousquet's time?

- Paul Biedermann must have been reading 'Thoughts from Day Three' where I doubted he would end up ranked no. 1 in the world on 200m Freestyle. All it took was the added incentive of racing Yannick Agnel for Biedermann (1:45.47) to knock half a second off his individual final time and have a strong chance of leading the world for the rest of this year.

That was step 1 on Biedermann's 3-step plan to prove his doubters wrong. Still to crack... 2.) Get down to 1:44 and challenge Phelps and Thorpe's best textile times and 3.) Win the World Championships in 2011.

Hats off to the German and French teams for making Biedermann vs Agnel a possibility. They could have easily put both men on the final legs but I suspect that both men requested the lead off leg.

Its becoming increasingly clear that Biedermann thrives on competition, it plays right into his hands. On the 200m he tends to hang with the pace on the first 100 before taking over on the third 50m and pulling away on the final 50m. The stronger the field, the stronger the pace on the first 100m.

... So I'm just going to say it, he's a big time swimmer... Just makes a showdown with Phelps even more enticing.

- Biedermann's lead off time was the main story of the 4 x 200m Free relay but Russia's victory is noteworthy. Because they lack 'star power' (and easily pronounceable names), the Russian team will likely be overlooked when it comes to future freestyle relays at the World Champs/Olympics but the fact is they have incredible strength in depth. The 4 x 100m team's slowest leg was Andrey Grechin's 48.32. Lets see what the US and Australia can muster at Pan Pacs this week.

- Just can't stop talking about this relay... Jeremy Stravius, the Backstroker, swam an incredible 1:45.44 for the French team. Faster than Danila Izotov's split.

- Good job Dragos Agache on the 50m Breaststroke (Silver in 27.47). Nice to see some success for the Romanian men now that Razvan Florea and Dragos Coman are out of the picture. The star of Romanian swimming for many years, Olympic champion Camelia Potec, announced before the competition that she will be deciding on her future in the sport after Budapest.

- Aliaksandra Herasimenia won the women's 50m Backstroke in a new textile best time of 27.64. Unfortunately it doesn't move me in the slightest. Herasimenia was banned for two years for a doping violation in 2003.

Thoughts from European Swimming Championships - Day Three

Day Three didn't provide quite the same excitement as Day One and Day Two had, however they were hard acts to follow. That's not to say the night was short on action, time to run through the main talking points:-

- From a personal point of view I was looking forward to the men's 200m Free above all the other races at Europeans. Frankly, I was a little underwhelmed by tonight's final.

I really thought Biedermann would swim faster than he did. Not an unreasonable expectation given the fact that he swam 0.2 seconds faster at German Nationals. Biedermann seems to react best when the competition is fierce and he just didn't have that big of a challenge tonight. The man who should have posed the biggest challenge, Danila Izotov, seemed like he was on top form after his relay heroics on Monday but just didn't show up for the final.

There are a lot of people that will jump on this swim (and his 400m Free) and highlight how much slower he is this year without his suit. Unfortunately for Biedermann, because he beat Michael Phelps wearing a techsuit (100% legal remember), he has become the poster boy for the suit era. He must be tired of answering questions on how this year is different to last. To answer his skeptics he really needs to do one or all of these three points:-

1.) Finish the year on top of the world rankings (looking unlikely now)

2.) Get down into 1:44 territory and get close to Phelps and Thorpe's best textile times. Phelps' best textile time (wearing a textile suit that covered his chest and legs) was 1:43.86, whilst Thorpe's was 1:44.06 (wearing his trademark full body suit).

3.) Win the World Championships again in 2011.

- The race that needs to happen in Budapest is a rematch of the 400m Free Final over 200m. Yannick Agnel vs Paul Biedermann. Hopefully the German and French teams give the fans what they want and put both men on the first leg of the 4 x 200m Free relay. (Knowing the French selection policy, Agnel will probably be dropped from the relay as he didn't do his victory lap of honour quickly enough on Monday evening.)


- Fran Halsall showed that she has made a significant step-up in world swimming by winning the 100m Freestyle final tonight despite not being fully tapered. It was the type of performance that showed real racing quality.

53.58 moves her to second in the world this year and is just 0.28 seconds off Britta Steffen's textile best time. Assuming everything goes to plan in Delhi we could certainly see Steffen's mark go and could even see the first woman under 53 seconds in a textile suit.

- Whilst Britain celebrates its third Gold medal, spare a thought for Ranomi Kromowidjojo. The Dutch sprinter had been one of the revelations of 2010 and her 53.44 effort back in March still leads the world rankings. Had Kromowidjojo not been struck down with illness just weeks before the competition started we may have been talking about a historic swim from the talented Dutch freestyler. Kromowidjojo's time will come and she will likely be a formidable force next year at World's and in London in two years time.

- Watch out for Daniel Gyurta tomorrow in the 200m Breaststroke final. There looked to be a lot more in the tank after his semi-final effort of 2:10.11. Brendan Hansen's textile best time of 2:08.50 could well be within Gyurta's reach in front of a home crowd.

- Another day, another stunning swim from Camille Lacourt. This time he raced to the top of the world rankings and took down his second textile best mark in the 50m Back. His semi final time of 24.30 moves him ahead of Liam Tancock's effort of 24.52 from earlier this year. Tancock's WR sits a little uneasily at 24.04. For more insight into Lacourt's progression over the last few years check out David Rieder's profile of the Frenchman.

Thoughts from the European Championships - Day One

Day One of the European Championships is in the books and it could turn out to be the most dramatic day of the week long competition.

Much like US Nationals, you can find event by event recaps at various swimming sites (here, here and here for example). Instead I will focus on some of the bigger talking points.

Let the bullets fly...

- From a British perspective the highlight of Day One had to be Hannah Miley's incredible victory in the 400m IM. All eyes were on Hungarian (training with Dave Salo in California) Katinka Hosszu for the following reasons:- a) Hosszu is the third fastest swimmer of all-time in this event and until last night was ranked second in the world this year. b) Hosszu was tapered, Miley is apparently focusing on the Commonwealth Games this year. c) Hosszu was swimming infront of a home crowd and d) Training partner Marcus Rogan had tipped Hosszu to become the first swimmer post-suits to break a WR in yesterday's race.

Miley had other ideas and used a devastating breaststroke leg to overturn the sizable lead (1.36  seconds) that Hosszu held after 200m.This shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. Miley has been consistently fast this year and was in great form on the Mare Nostrum circuit.

Miley moves to second all-time in a textile suit (just 0.2 seconds behind Katie Hoff's 2007 WR) and notably has now been faster than European legend Yana Klochkova in textile.

Hoff TBT  - 29.83 - 1:03.91 - 1:39.49 - 2:14.10 - 2:51.50 - 3:29.68 - 4:01.64 -  4:32.89

Rice WR   - 28.66 - 1:01.47 - 1:36.17 - 2:09.83 - 2:48.12 -  3:27.25 -  3:58.92 -  4:29.45

Hosszu ER -28.45 - 1:01.61 - 1:36.05 - 2:09.29 - 2:48.77 - 3:28.81 - 3:59.95 - 4:30.31

Miley     - 30.04 - 1:03.50 - 1:38.65 - 2:13.05 - 2:51.50 - 3:30.42 - 4:02.33 - 4:33.09

Hosszu  - 29.07 - 1:01.97 - 1:37.32 - 2:11.69 - 2:51.32 - 3:32.21 - 4:04.30 - 4:36.43

TBT = Textile Best Time

- Incredibly, France managed to lose another 4 x 100m Freestyle relay, despite entering the event with their swimmers dominating the world rankings. Surely it is now time to move Alain Bernard to a less-pressured position on the relay, to swim 0.4 seconds slower than your best time WITH a rolling start is not good enough. He performed well in Rome last year swimming the second leg but has now under performed on the last leg in Beijing and now Budapest (maybe it only happens at cities beginning with 'B'?).

Take nothing away from the Russians. The victory was built on Evgeny Lagunov's stunning, world leading 48.23 (Lagunov is suddenly a very real threat to take gold on the individual as well as two sub-48 second legs from Nikita Lobintsev and Danila Isotov.

Shocking stat no.1- The French B team (3:13.12) swam faster in the morning heats than the A team did in the finals (3:13.29).

Shocking stat no.2 - 200m Freestyle rivals Paul Biedermann and Danila Isotov had differing fortunes in the relay. Isotov had the fastest split of the entire race (47.87) whilst Biedermann (49.06) was 16th fastest. If anyone is under the impression that Biedermann will have it easy on the 200m Free because of Yannick Agnel's absence, they need to re-evaluate immediately.

(Hat tip to David 'Swim Geekatov' Rieder who has been championing the Russian freestylers for some time, although did pick France to win this race.)

- You know its been a good night of swimming when an 18-year old, competing at his first senior competition, beats the reigning world champion and world record holder... and its only the third biggest story of the night. Yannick Agnel continued his rapid ascent of world swimming by winning his only individual event of the Europeans. Agnel's 4:46.17 moves him to third in the world this year with Biedermann moving to fourth with his 3:46.30.

Watching the race it looked like Biedermann got his tactics slightly wrong. He tried to use his usual tactics of waiting until 300m before putting the hammer down on the final 100m, by doing this he underestimated Agnel's speed and stamina. Agnel and Biedermann have both been 48.80 this year and he took too big a risk by trying and beat Agnel for speed at the end of the race.

Swimsportnews.de had earlier commented on this blog about Biedermann and the 400m Free this year and looking back at those comments are telling. After a disappointing swim at German nationals Biedermann in the heat of the moment mentioned that he might consider pulling out of the 400m Free at Europeans, the question of race tactics and organisation was also brought back in early July. As Swimsportnews also mentioned Biedermann's main event has now clearly become the 200m Free. Biedermann will have his work cut out against Danila Isotov who is looking like he got his taper exactly right.

- Camille Lacourt and Alexander Dale-Oen posted incredible times in the semi finals of the 100m Backstroke and 100m Breaststroke respectively.

Lacourt has been extremely consistent this year and had a number of 53 second swims. However, 52.58 took him to a new level. Liam Tancock's 52.85 from British Nationals had looked like it could last a long time at the top of the world rankings, especially after the efforts of the US men last week. However, Lacourt blew that time away setting a new textile best mark in the process (8th fastest swimmer of all-time). Aaron Peirsol's 51.94 suddenly doesn't seem as untouchable as it once did.

Dale-Oen also launched himself to a new level. His time of 59.29 just missed Brendan Hansen's textile best time of 59.13. Dale-Oen turned in a rapid 27.66 (0.01 under Brenton Rickard's WR split) and he kept his form to the finish. Dale-Oen's time was the 25th fastest of all-time (he had previously been 59.16 and 59.20 at the Beijing Olympics). He acheived the same impressive feat that Lacourt managed.... He made the high-tech suit WR of 58.58 suddenly look a lot more acheivable in the near future. Something the swimming world needed.

European Swimming Championships

The European Swimming Championships start today in Budapest.

From a British perspective it has a strange feel to it knowing that the Commonwealth Games will be the main focus this year. It is a shame that British Swimming don't put so much emphasis on European competition. As good as Australia, South Africa and Canada are, for many of our top swimmers they face much fiercer rivals in Europe than they do in the Commonwealth.

Britain should still come away with a decent medal haul. With Ryan Lochte swimming like a man possessed something must be going right in Florida so look for team-mate Gemma Spofforth to have a good meet.

Key British races to watch

Elizabeth Simmonds vs Gemma Spofforth - 100m/200m Backstroke

Katinka Hosszu vs Hannah Miley - 400m IM

Liam Tancock vs Camille Lacourt - 100m Backstroke

Francesca Halsall vs Femke Heemskerk - 100m Freestyle

Rebecca Adlington vs Federica Pellegrini vs Lotte Friis - 800m Freestyle

Ellen Gandy vs Jemma Lowe vs Mireia Belmonte Garcia vs Katinka Hosszu vs Zsuzsanna Jakabos - 200m Butterfly

Federica Pellegrini vs Rebecca Adlington vs Jo Jackson vs Coralie Balmy vs Camille Muffat - 400m Freestyle

Women's 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay


Women's 4 x 100m Medley Relay


Other races to watch out for

Paul Biedermann vs Yannick Agnel - 400m Freestyle

Laszlo Cseh vs Gergo Kis - 400m IM

Fred Bousquet vs Alain Bernard vs Fabien Gilot vs Amaury Leveaux - Heats 50m Freestyle (only 2 can go through)


Start Lists and Results can be found - Here

Live Timing - Here

For those in the UK, the BBC are doing a pretty decent job this year with some coverage of every evening session. (Unfortunately it only makes it onto BBC 2 three times during the competition)

Eurosport as usual will show both heats and finals. For those that don't have Eurosport you can sign up online for £3.99 a month to watch it online. Well worth it.

Search Amazon.com for swimming books

Paul Biedermann - 1:45.84 - Wins German Nationals

A week after Yannick Agnel made all the headlines in the men's 200m Free at the Paris Open, Paul Biedermann responded in his own way at German Nationals today.

Biedermann took over from Agnel at the top of the world rankings with a superb time of 1:45.84. Biedermann took the race out hard turning in 24.96 at 50m and 51.26 at the 100m turn. (During his 1:42.00 swim Biedermann split 24.23 and 50.12).

To be recognised in the same company as 200m Free greats Ian Thorpe and Michael Phelps, Biedermann will need to get down to their textile best times. Thorpe's best is 1:44.06 from the 2001 World Champs, Phelp's best (and the best time ever in a 100% textile suit) is 1:43.86 from the 2007 World Champs. Whether this is a 100% fair comparison is open to debate considering that Thorpe wore his trademark black all body suit and Phelps was wearing a suit covering his chest and legs.

Biedermann was actually faster than Thorpe's 2001 split at 100m (51.26 to 51.45). At 150m Thorpe edged slightly ahead on 1:18.26 to Biedermann's 1:18.49. Before Thorpe 'dropped the hammer' on the last 50m.

Even more interesting is the comparison between Biedermann's effort today and 2001's 2nd placed finisher Pieter van den Hoogenband. Biedermann swam 24.96, 26.30, 27.23, 27.35 to finish in 1:45.84. VDH swam 24.67, 26.76, 27.03, 27.35 to finish in 1:45.81. Just 0.03 split the two swims and they had an identical final 50m. The big difference between the swims was the fact that VDH was swimming in 2001's most hyped race, Biedermann was at his national championships without any competition. At European's vs. Agnel and/or next year's World Champs vs. Phelps we will surely see even more from Biedermann.

Add your thoughts on Biedermann below. Let's work this out together.

122. Deutsche Meisterschaften - German Nationals

German Nationals start today and like a number of other major swimming federations they offer a live stream (Britain - Catch up). Its a tremendous way to see swimmers that you'd otherwise have to wait until a major competition to get a look at. Most eyes will be on Paul Biedermann to see what times he can acheive, however Germany also has a strong crop of youngsters coming through which includes:-
- Silke Lippok, 16, who swam 54.99 in the 100m Free at the German Youth Championships
- Christian vom Lehn, 18, who swam 2:13.38 in the 200m Breast at German Youths
- Bastian Vollmer, 17, who swam 28.87 in the 50m Breast at German Youths.
(Thanks to @swimsportnews for the results)

Other senior swimmers to watch out for are Hendrik Feldwehr, Daniela Samulksi, Benjamin Starke, Yannick Lebherz, Jenny Mensing, Marco Koch, Caroline Ruhnau, Steffen Diebler, Dorothea Brandt and Annika Mehlhorn.

Live Stream - Here

Startlists and Results - Here

LiveTiming - Here

Mare Nostrum - Monaco - Day One

Performance of the day

Hannah Miley - 400m IM - 4:35.06

Whilst I picked Miley to win the 400 IM, the manner of her victory was not expected. After staying in contention with Mireia Belmonte on the fly leg (1:03.09 - 1:03.41), Miley took control of the race on the backstroke and never looked like being caught on the breaststroke and free. Beating Belmonte by over 5 seconds will give Miley a huge lift ahead of her busy summer of swimming (Europeans & Commonwealths). Belmonte will come back stronger and there is also Katinka Hosszu waiting in the wings, but Miley is establishing herself as the favourite for the 400 IM at Europeans.

Miley's time moves her up to third in the world this year, just behind Xuanxu Li (4:34.59) and Steph Rice (4:35.04).

Intriguingly Miley will face Katie Hoff and Ariana Kukors in Barcelona. The 400 IM is not on the schedule in Canet.

Runner-Up

Paul Biedermann - 400m Free - 3:48.77

Not because of the time he swam, but because Biedermann faced his toughest challenge of 2010 so far and passed it convincingly. He tracked Zhang Lin and Ous Mellouli for 300m before overhauling both men in the space of 50m. Biedermann, Lin and Mellouli are currently the three best 400 Free swimmers in the world and for Biedermann to win in the manner he did should answer some of his critics. Biedermann will continue to be at the forefront of male middle distance freestyle with or without the suit.

UPDATE - As David Rieder rightly pointed out, Park Tae-Hwan has proven to be equal to the three freestylers mentioned here and has to be included in the top tier of the 400m Free. Peter Vanderkaay is also in the mix, although if I had to rank all 5 guys he'd be number 5.

Results can be found here.

Live Video will be shown here (speed_endurance exclusive)

Live updates from Twitter.

Ian Thorpe - Considering comeback for 2012?

The Herald Sun reports today that Ian Thorpe, 27, is considering a surprise comeback in time for London 2012.

It's understood Thorpe, 27, discussed his plans with Australia's current batch of crack male sprinters - Eamon Sullivan, Andrew Lauterstein, Ashley Callus and Matt Targett - at the Commonwealth Games trials in Sydney last month, allegedly saying: "Let's get the 4x100 in London."

I say this happens... Just three days ago at a sports convention in Dubai Thorpe revealed “I’ve walked away, not retired”. Thorpedo is media-savvy enough to know how this will have been taken and to have the story break so soon afterwards tells me that we'll get the welcome return of this century's first global swimming star.

Assuming it does happen, several questions remain:-

A) Will he get back into the kind of shape he needs to be to make the Australian team?

- Look at Geoff Huegill. Thorpe might not even be the biggest surprise comeback Olympian on the 2012 team.

B) Will he focus only on the 4 x 100 Free relay?

- If Thorpe can get down to a mid-48 on the 100 Free (what it will probably take to qualify comfortably for the Aussie team) then I'm guessing he could also swim a pretty mean 200m Free. You can add the 4 x 200 Free relay to his list. When it comes to individual events I think Thorpe needs to be in with a real shot at a medal (probably Gold) for him to consider it. The individual 200m Free would probably be the most suitable event for him and as a result his participation might depend on what Phelps/Biedermann/Agnel/Isotov etc. are producing. The endurance needed for the 400m Free might be a step too far even for Thorpe. I don't see him being able to match Cielo/Bernard/Sullivan for speed in the individual 100 Free.

C) Will Thorpe's presence be enough to win Gold for Australia in the 4 x 100 Free relay in 2012?

- It will certainly give the team a boost and should help Australia but it still might not be enough to claim gold.

France have to be considered favourites with the USA a close second. So far this year the fastest 4 French 100m Freestylers are:-

A Bernard - 48.32 (World Rank 1)
F Gilot - 48.52 (W.r. =2)
W Meynard - 48.79 (W.r 5)
Y Agnel - 48.99 (W.r 8)

This doesn't even include the seriously talented A Leveaux, F Bousquet, B Steimetz and G Mallet.

Australia's top 4 in comparison:-

E Sullivan - 48.52 (W.r =2)
T D'Orsagna - 49.35 (W.r 18)
J Magnussen - 49.43 (W.r 19)
K Richardson- 49.47 (W.r 25)

The US team will always challenge and have a wealth of talent available. (Phelps, Adrian, Walters, Grevers, Weber-Gale, Jones, new guys coming through... Lezak!)

D) If Thorpe does comeback, is it the best news in 2010 for the sport of swimming?

Yes.

200m Freestyle: Biedermann vs Phelps

You can find my race-by-race recap of the Great Britain Vs. Germay duel day one here and day two here. Full results (without splits) are here.

Biedermann vs Phelps

Great to see Paul Biedermann back in action at the GBR Vs. GER duel. He looked in tremendous physical condition. He mentioned that he'd lost 1.5kg and that he still had more a bit more to lose. His modesty shone through after the race too when the inevitable questions about Phelps came up. He dealt with them admirably calling Phelps the "greatest swimmer in the world" and that he hopes to face him later in the year either at the Monaco leg of the Mare Nostrum series in June or at the World Shortcourse Champs in Dubai in December.

Why Phelps vs Biedermann is so intriguing is the fact that Phelps' famous last 50m speed, where he has won so many races, is less effective against Biedermann. Normally if Phelps goes into the final turn level or just behind a swimmer, you still expect him to win. However, take a look back at the 200m Final in Rome last year and see Biedermann's final 50m. This is the first time I can remember seeing anyone pulling away from Phelps on a final 50m. 9 minute version here with full build up and post-race analysis.

This is the way Biedermann swims and I believe he's strong enough to match Phelps on the final 50m of a 200m Free. Phelps may need to change his approach to the 200m and take the race out (possibly sub-50 seconds) if he wants to beat Biedermann.

The one criticism I have of Biedermann is his starts. He loses out everytime on them and his starting weakness was evident again this weekend. The worrying aspect for his rivals is that this is something that can be improved upon.